The Berat Court has found guilty this Monday the former head of the State Intelligence Service in Berat, Aleksandër Shulla, and his son Pandeli Shulla, accused of several serious criminal offenses, including illegal organization of gambling, illegal possession of weapons and disclosure of state secrets.
According to the announcement of the Berat Prosecutor's Office, " the criminal proceedings against the father and son began in 2023, following information provided by the investigation bodies that illegal gambling activities were taking place in a local in the "30 Vjetori" neighborhood of the city of Berat, administered by P.Sh. During the checks, several computers were found in operation, on whose screens online games similar to those of virtual casinos were displayed, accessible through applications or programs installed and connected to the internet.
The investigation also extended to A.Sh.'s apartment, where during the police search, 7.62 mm caliber ammunition, several magazine clips filled with cartridges, and two USB devices with the inscriptions "Turbox" and "Kingston" were found. A.Sh., who had previously worked as an employee of the State Intelligence Service, stated that he had surrendered the weapons after leaving office in November 2023, but had forgotten to surrender the ammunition, which he had kept as a souvenir.
However, verifications conducted by the Prosecution Office revealed that the weapons had been returned in accordance with legal procedures, a fact proven by the relevant delivery documentation. It was also found that two materials found on one of the USBs were classified at the “secret” level and were administered by the SHISH in a single copy. Copying and keeping them outside official structures constituted a violation of the security rules for classified information.
At the end of the investigation, the Prosecution assessed that there was sufficient evidence for the defendants' guilt. The Berat Court accepted the prosecution's requests and declared P.Sh. guilty of the criminal offense of "Organizing or exercising gambling activities in violation of the law", sentencing him to 2 years in prison, a sentence which was reduced by one third and suspended, placing him on probation for 2 years and 8 months.
Meanwhile, A.Sh. was found guilty of "Unauthorized possession of weapons and ammunition" and "Revelation of state secrets by a person entrusted to him", initially sentenced to 6 months and 2 years in prison. After the sentence was reduced by one third, he was finally sentenced to 1 year and 4 months in prison, a sentence which was suspended and accompanied by a probationary period of 2 years and 8 months. Also, A.Sh. was deprived of the right to exercise public functions for a period of 5 years".